KUANTAN: After 40 years, Pahang has finally agreed to make adjustments to the water tariffs for domestic users following the National Water Services Commission's (Span) tariff adjustment announcement today.
Starting Feb 1, households across Pahang will pay 78 sen for the first 20 cubic metres of treated water compared to 37 sen for the first 18 cubic metres of water which has been imposed since 1983.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said the water tariff hike is inevitable and assured those in the B40 group that they could enjoy some subsidies.
"The last time the water tariff in Pahang was reviewed was in 1983. The first 20 cubic metres of domestic water will be charged 78 sen starting February 1 onwards.
"The tariff adjustment is not an issue as not only Pahang is involved in reviewing the new tariff," he told reporters when met here today.
On the subsidy for the B40 category, Wan Rosdy said he will meet Pengurusan Air Pahang Berhad (Paip) and other parties to discuss further.
"The matter is still being looked into and studied. We might provide some subsidy or assistance to the B40," he said.
Meanwhile, Wan Rosdy said the current non-revenue water (NRW) losses in Pahang was quite high with Temerloh recording more than 50 per cent NRW.
"Our target is to solve 90 per cent of Pahang's water supply issues by 2026. I raised issues concerning water in Pahang during a meeting with Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) in Putrajaya last week and have requested additional allocation to solve the problems," he said.
Earlier, Span announced new water tariffs, whereby domestic users in the peninsular and Labuan will pay an average of 22 sen more for every cubic metre beginning Feb 1.
Wan Rosdy had earlier witnessed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between E&P O&M Services Sdn Bhd, Pahang Skills Development Centre and Universiti Teknologi Petronas's Centre for Advanced and Professional Education to boost the workforce in the oil and gas industry.
